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When I first started writing romances,
I used general examples
like
‘He worked hard’
or ‘She cared for the children on her ward’
in hopes that these examples would appeal
to more people.

Instead, they appealed to no one.
Readers couldn’t visualize
what ‘working hard’ or ‘caring’ was.

Changing this to
‘He worked every day, Monday to Sunday,
from seven in the morning
to nine at night’
or
‘Every night, it didn’t matter how tired she was,
Nancy read a story from the big book of fairy tales
to Susie, a six year old patient in remission’
allowed readers to ’see’ , to believe, to care.

“If you’re selling a service,
explain it in terms of real benefits
people get from using it.
Instead of
“We offer health insurance services
for small businesses,”
say,
“We can slash
your company’s health insurance costs
by 30 percent or more.”

“Back in the day,
a retailer could compete on
price, quality and/or service.
Now, those are assumed.
You need to have a reason
for someone to spend time
in your store.
Today, people can have household essentials
delivered to their door in an hour,
so why leave your house?

The answer—surprise and delight!
A compelling experience.

Storytelling is
more important than ever
for retailers, and businesses in general,
to differentiate themselves.
It’s more than a trend,
it’s a fundamental shift
—both a challenge and opportunity.”

The great thing is…
stories don’t have to cost much.
You could write one yourself
or I know writers who will craft
a story around your products
for a ridiculously low fee.

I grew up fairly poor
(fairly poor
because no one in North America
is truly poor,
not compared to other places
in the world).

I’d draft my wishlist
for Christmas,
knowing I’d be fortunate
to receive even one of the items
on it.

I’d draft that list
and then think about ways
I could earn
those items.

I do the same thing
now
for my businesses.
I craft my wishlist
of things
I’d love to add to the businesses.
Maybe I want a personal assistant
to help with book releases.
Or a distribution partner.
Or a centralized database
of character names and traits.

Then I figure out a way
to get some or all of the items
on my wishlist.

I watched Big Eyes,
a movie about a real life
husband and wife team.
The wife created art.
The husband took credit for it,
selling it as his own work.

Yes, taking credit
for another person’s work is wrong
but I doubt she would have become famous
on her own.
Not merely because she was a woman
but because she couldn’t sell.
She didn’t have strong selling skills
and she didn’t seem interested
in acquiring them.

Because she couldn’t sell,
she would have always
been at the mercy
of someone who could sell.

You can have the greatest product
in the world.
If you can’t sell that product
to other people,
that product won’t become known.